Reminiscence of Antiquity
by Vampire Louis
Summary: Yohji, a teenage orphan, is the key to an ancient gypsy legend. With the help of his friends, Ran, Ken, Omi and his gypsy 'family', he reluctantly sets out to his destiny, finding love along the way (AU) (Eventual AxY and KxO) Chapter 5 finally up! ;
1. Another First Day

Title: Reminiscence of Antiquity

Chapter: 1 - Another First Day
    
    Rated: PG13 (some reference to violence)

Warnings: Eventual shounen-ai ( AxY & KxO)

Legal stuff: Well... I think it's obvious but I'll state it anyway. I down own them! Please don't sue me? I'm poor... seriously..._;;

****

Author and Editor notes: **This is the beginning of an epic story. We would apologize for the length but some stories take longer to tell then others. Hell we don't even know when it's going to get done so be prepared for many chapters to come.**

Thanks to: My editor. Shaeric Draconis. The Squall x Zell + Aya x Youji Yaoi fanfic group. Creators of Weiss Kreuz. My fellow Gypsies everywhere.

AYYA! Vive la Resistance!

~*~

Yohji scratched the back of his neck as he walked down the hall with the principle leading the way. A new school, a new time to pretend, how wonderful. He let out a sigh and adjusted the backpack, which was barely filled with a notebook, some paper and a couple of pens: the essentials, of course; nothing more and nothing less.

"Mr. Kudou, this is where your first hour class is, I suspect you can find the rest of them on your own with the aid of your schedule?" The rather robust man questioned him. Naturally he hadn't exactly been paying attention but the last part of what the man had to say, by miracle, managed to not escape him like everything else.

"Yes sir." That's right. He was the good teenager who addressed adults as if they were Gods or at the very least, Kings and Queens.

"Good, then I take my leave." The principle spoke as he wrinkled his button nose then wandered off down the hall.

"That's right tubby…" Yohji muttered under his breath, "Time to get back to the Twinkies and porn magazines in your office."

He obviously disliked the man but for more than one reason. The man was rude and treated him like an idiot. The man knew only a little about his past and he already marked him as a troublemaker. Just because one person moves from school to school does not mean that they got themselves thrown out of the school or had to leave because they were nothing but troublemakers. Judgmental. That's what he hated most about that disgustingly obese man- he was flat out judgmental with no right to be.

Turning the doorknob he opened the door to the classroom and slipped in. The teacher was at the front giving a lecture when he paused in mid-sentence, holding a rather annoyed look that was, with no doubt, meant for Yohji.

"May I help you sir?" The teacher shifted his weight and practically threw himself into a power trip. What was with these people?

"I'm new and my schedule says that I have psychology first hour…" The boy spoke lightly, ignoring all the eyes that were on him.

"Let me see your schedule." The teacher instructed, holding out a hand to receive the paper.

Yohji narrowed his eyes and put the folded piece of paper into the man's calloused hands. He hated being called a liar and that's exactly what this man was doing. Jerk. Upon finding that Yohji was not a liar after all, the teacher walked over to his desk and pulled out a few materials. A book, a worksheet, and a three by five note card. 

"Write your name and grade on the note card and give the card to me after class. You may take a seat in that chair in the over there…" The teacher motioned to a seat towards the center right of the room. Grand.

Yohji nodded an agreement then made his way over to the seat, all the while trying desperately not to notice the whispers about him and violating eyes feeding on him. He pushed his dark glasses further up on his nose so that his jade eyes could not be seen. He didn't know what the hell they were staring at. It was as if they had never seen a new person before. 

Maybe it was because his clothes were a bit ratty. A worn out pair of jeans and a muted grey sweater that had to have been four sizes too large for his slender frame, clothed him. Or rather, hung on him and barely that. The neck of the sweater slipped off the side of one of his shoulders and he decided not to fix it, besides, what did he care if someone could see a paling shoulder that once held a healthy tan to it? He didn't. 

The class seemed to drag on and he caught himself wanting to fall asleep at least eight times over though he refused himself to doze off. It didn't matter if he didn't get any sleep the previous night because he had to clean the whole house before morning. No one here cared about that. No one here cared about him. A ringing filled his ear and for a moment the thought he had finally dropped off his rocker. However, the more rational side to him quickly embraced the other side and informed it that it was merely the school bell ringing and not his brain. What a relief. Gathering his books he rose to his feet and pushed his stuff into the backpack that looked about ready to fall apart. The poor bag had been through hell and back but he could't afford to get another, not until he got a job… if he could get a job. 

"Oi!" A younger voice seemed to call after him, "New kid!" He hated that title but he turned to look at his addresser anyway. 

"What?" He spoke flatly, not in the mood to take taunting if that was what was to come.

"Hi! I just… wanted to say hi." A boy, who couldn't have been older then seventeen, smiled at him.

"Hi." He lifted an eyebrow and once again pushed up the falling glasses further onto his nose while inspecting the boy. He was tall, athletic and had dark brown hair to match his dark brown eyes. No doubt he was in a sport of some type by the way he moved and wore a jersey, probably soccer if his guess was right.

"I'm Hidaka Ken..." Ken grinned like the devil and offered a hand to Yohji in a friendly enough manner. 

Yohji just blinked a few times. Was this kid for real? Who walked up to the new kid after his first class and introduced himself as if he wanted to be friends? It had to be a trick of some sort.

"Kudou Yohji." The blond stated and shook the brunette's hand before releasing quickly and turning on his heel to go.

"Oro!" Ken sighed, "Wait, wait… at lunch, do you want to come eat with me?" Yohji froze then turned to glance at Ken who just continued to smile.

"Sure… I guess." He shrugged while trying not to be too skeptical at the kind offers being thrown at him.

"Cool! Meet me on the steps at the front and we can go grab some lunch." Ken chuckled then waved, "See ya then!" And with that said, the boy darted down the hallway. Strange. Looking at his watch then looking at his schedule he groaned in knowing that he might be late to the next class. Oh well, he had an excuse; he was new here. Trudging off to English he cursed the school system for being so retarded that they forced him to take a needlessly boring class. They might as well have called the class 'Nap time 101' because that's all anyone did in that class, or at least as far as he could tell. 

The rest of school was a blur until lunch where he only remembered that he was supposed to be eating lunch with Ken when the soccer boy waved him down.

"Oi, Kudou, did you forget you said you'd eat lunch with me?" Ken smirked.

"Ah. Gomen…" The older boy laughed nervously.

"It's alright." Ken shrugged then started to walk along, expecting Yohji to follow him, which he did.

The two talked a little, or rather, Ken talked at Yohji about sports, the school and everything under the sun while Yohji responded with short one word answers. Both had brought a lunch so there was no need to go out and get something like half the other high school kids. Apparently Ken thought it was healthier for him to pack his own lunch and so he hardly ever went out to eat and Yohji… well, Yohji didn't have money to go out to eat so he scrapped up a few pieces of meat and bread then managed to snag and apple before he left his place that morning.

"Yohji?" Ken question between bites.

"Hm?"

"Where did you move here from?"

Yohji's eyes narrowed a bit as he mumbled the name of a town a few hours from there. It grew quickly obvious that Yohji didn't want to talk about his past, or at least it should have been obvious and by the way Ken changed the subjects he figured Ken had caught on. That or Ken was flighty when it came to conversations and both seemed likely.

"Where are you living now?"

Good question. "A few blocks on the south side from the temple on Cherry Hill, it's not far from here." He shrugged.

Ken nodded but said nothing. He knew the area where Yohji was talking about and it didn't settle well with him. The places on the south side of the Cherry Hill temple were nothing but ghettos and fairly run down slums. Maybe Yohji was mistaken? Why would a family move there? Any remotely sane family would have known better then to move into a neighborhood that bad.

Lunch ended quickly as did the rest of the day and Yohji found himself taking the long way home. He wanted to get home before dark but he didn't want to get home before the sun was about to set either. He hated his new home and he hated his new family. If only… If only his mother had been more careful. He blamed this all on her but deep down inside, he knew he shouldn't. He loved his mother though, at the same time, he resented her for leaving him to live this life of hell.

A dove-like hand floated upwards to rub the back of his neck. It was a rather nervous habit of his, rubbing the spot where a tattoo lay. His mind suddenly threw him back into his musing over the tattoo on his neck, or rather, the strange scribbles that he didn't know much about. Not that it mattered, he often forgot it was even there, or at least until he got nervous or bored.

The can Yohji was kicking made a racket as it skidded along the side of the street. Noise. There was always so much noise everywhere. It's a shame silence had become a lost art. A black car slowed down next to him and his footsteps instinctively became softer as his muscles prepared him for the run of his life. He was just about to take off like a bat out of hell when the window rolled down and a pale face leaned out the passenger window.

"Need a ride, Kudou?"

Yohji closed his eyes and let out a breath of air, "Sure." He smiled, willing his heart to beat less intensely and his blood to cool.

The passenger door opened and Yohji tossed his ratty bag into the back seat while sliding into the comfortable leather upholstery of the porch. Carefully closing the door he sunk into the foreign car with a faint smile upon his lips.

"Seatbelt." The driver's voice ordered, causing Yohji to jump a little.

"Slave driver." Yohji frowned while tugging at the seatbelt so he could pull it over him.

"How's the new family working out for you?" The man asked flatly as he shifted gears and began to head down the road.

"I hate it." Yohji sighed, sinking a little into the seat more.

"Why's that?"

"They're jerks."

"Kudou…" That was a warning scowl.

"But they are." Yohji went on to protest, "They're dirt poor and they don't know how to treat kids. I don't know why they adopted any."

"They have more money then you do, currently." There was a short pause of uncomfortable silence before the older man went on, "Are they abusive?"

"No…"

"Hn."

Yohji glanced over at the driver with a sigh, wondering why the man ever bothered to stick around. Lavender eyes glanced over at him from behind strands of crimson hair and caused a shiver to melt down his spine. The older man was ghostly pale but it added to how handsome he really was. Why this man had ever decided to be a caseworker and not a model was truly beyond Yohji. He could probably make more money as a model then he was making now, no doubt.

"Fujimiya-san?" Yohji shifted and the amethyst eyes averted themselves back to the road.

"Hm?"

"Is there a reason you're here? I mean, a real reason you came to my neighborhood after I got out of school?"

"Can't I drop by to say hi?"

"No. That's unlike you. You only come if you have business."

The redheaded man leaned into his seat, "I came to check up on you to see if you were settling in alright with your new family. The organization and myself are hoping you won't get kicked out or taken out of this home too. After all, eight different homes in two years is a little extensive, don't you think so?"

"Fujimiya-san…" He started but the car stopped in front of his house.

"I'm off hours, just call me Aya."

Yohji looked at the broken apartment building outside the window and remorse trickled into the pit of his stomach. His jade eyes darted back over to the red head, holding silent pleas and screams within them.

"Can we go out somewhere first?"

"Don't you have homework?"

"I can get it done later…" Yohji pressed, not trying to show the desperation that was clearly written across his face.

Aya took one good look at him then sighed, "When did you eat last?"

"I had a few bites of a sandwich at lunch…"

"If I treat you to dinner then take you home will you promise me that you'll go in and do your homework? No late sneaking around or running away this time?"

Yohji slowly nodded as his stomach growled at them both, causing Aya to finally shift his car gears and head down the road at a rapid pace. Getting used to having Yohji around was becoming a bad habit for Aya and he knew it; after all, being Yohji's caseworker for as many years as he had been, it was hard not to grow a bit of a bond with the young man. Through the corner of his eye he could see Yohji digging around for something.

"No smoking in the car." He said flatly.

"I know that." Yohji flashed him a grin through he attempted to not pay attention.

How old was Yohji now? Seventeen? That's right, he was seventeen now and still depended heavily on Aya for assistance. Aya knew that the minute Yohji turned twenty the boy would take off to go back to his friends and those he loved from far away if they didn't come for him first. 

"Are you okay, Aya?" Yohji lifted an eyebrow when he saw how tense the older man was. Older man. That made Yohji smile for he knew that his caseworker was no older then twenty five or twenty six. Apparently Aya had started college early on his life which was something Yohji didn't think he himself would be doing. Not with the other family he had to take care of. Rubbing the back of his neck where the strange scribbles of a tattoo were, he waited for Aya to respond.

"Fine." A delayed response but nonetheless a response.

"Right." Yohji shook his head; he wasn't going to argue with Aya even when he knew Aya wasn't telling the truth.

The car pulled into a little restaurant and the two men stepped out before heading in, all without a word to each other. This was typical of them. Aya was always the strong and silent type and Yohji… well, after years of moving from home to home and years of suffering abuse and all sorts of other crap, he learned to keep his mouth closed when it wasn't wanted open.

After they were seated they both looked over the menus before a woman came and took their orders. Growing rapidly tired of the silence between them, Yohji took the inititive upon himself to speak up; knowing very well that Aya wouldn't do it first unless he had to.

"So when do I get to see you next?"

Aya lifted his amethyst eyes to feast upon the youth before him, "You have my cell phone number." 

Yohji merely rolled his eyes, "That doesn't mean you'll answer or come over when I ask you to."

A frown deepened, "Whenever you call and want me to come get you, I will. That's what I'm here for Yohji."

Yohji simply sighed and he forced himself to look down at his food when it came thanks to their waitress. He had no reason to doubt Aya but there was always that thread of wariness in him. Perhaps because once Aya had come just a little too late and ever since Yohji was forced to question it all. Pushing back the memory, which was unfortunately trying to make itself known in his already preoccupied mind, he swallowed hard and felt his heart start to race.

/ "Somebody help me!" /

"Kudou?"

/ "Help! Can anyone hear me? Help!" Tears began to stream down his young face as he beat his fists against the wooden floor just above the last step, "Help me…"

The darkness surrounded him and he could hear his own heartbeat screaming in his ears. Panic was starting to set in and he couldn't help his body that was starting to give way to panic that forced hyperventilation to over come him. The dark is where bad things lurked and it was in the dark that those bad things were free to come for him.

How long had he been in his place? How much longer would he be there? Starvation. Dehydration. All were beginning to warp his twisting thoughts into a most horrifying nightmare…/

"Yohji…"

/ "Help… me…." His tiny voice broke the deafening silence around him.

He was more than afraid; he was down right petrified. So weak and so alone he swore he felt the hands of the darkness reach out and snatch him away from the floor above his head. The hands pulled him further into the darkness as he fell off the top of the stairs and into the pit below. He was cold with no clothing to keep him warm though the fever that tore his body apart was burning him alive.

Something warm and wet was sticking to his skin as it pooled bellow him. Whatever it was, it was thick and smelt terrible like the rest of his personal hell. A new darkness was rapidly approaching him… a darkness that held much more comfort then the place he laid down in. With open arms and closed eyes he welcomed unconsciousness like a saint that had come to liberate him. Perhaps death was not so far now… /

"Yohji!" Aya was reaching across the table shaking him, "Yohji! Snap out of it!"

Roused by Aya's voice calling to him he looked up and stared straight into the lavender orbs watching him, just like they had before. The same concern was ever evident inside of them. Those eyes that called to him… those eyes that freed him.

/ "Yohji!" An angel? "Yohji! For the love of Gods, open your damn eyes!" That voice… "Yohji… please…"

At last he managed enough energy to open his weary eyes and pull himself from the internal pit he had fallen into. The most alluring set of lavender eyes were calling him like the voice from the owner of those eyes. Where had he seen those eyes before? He knew them… he knew he knew them.

"Forgive me…" The man was crying. Why? "Forgive me…" He whispered again… was he crying for him? Impossible, why would anyone shed tears for him? 

"You came." He choked. This man was Death. Dressed in all black with unfeasibly pale skin, red hair and lavender eyes. This beautiful creature was death and death had come for him at last.

"Just relax, I'll take care of everything. I'll take care of you." He somehow managed a smile to come to him. At last Death was here to take care of him and take away all his pain. Other angels hurried about him and spoke to Death before taking a closer look at him. The angels were all dressed in strange suits and he thought to question it but his drowsiness got the better of him and his eyes closed for the last time in that place. /

"Sorry Aya, I must have spaced off." Yohji laughed, rubbing the side of his head.

"I'd say." Aya shook his head as he took a seat back in his chair, telling himself to calm down. Yohji had been known to space off when caught up in a memory and this would't have been so bothersome if Aya wasn't aware of the nightmarish memories that came to Yohji when he was in that state of being. Aya had always tried his best to help Yohji forget the awful times he lived through but no matter what the man did, he could never take away all the pain and agony that Yohji had already suffered through his rather short life. 

Yohji shook away the haunting memories and continued to eat, knowing that this would be the biggest meal that he would eat for many days to come. He looked up to notice that Aya was just having a cup of coffee and small sandwich.

"Aren't you hungry?" Yohji questioned between bites.

"Not nearly as hungry as you, obviously." Aya said with a bit of humor in his voice.

"Ah, I skipped breakfast and I hurried through my lunch so I'm starved."

"Why did you miss breakfast?"

"I was late for school."

"Ah." Aya was analyzing everything that Yohji was saying and Yohji knew it.

"Are you happy where you're living?"

"No."

"Why?"

"You know why. I hate living with strangers."

Aya frowned but didn't press any further then that. Yohji would start to close up if he pried too much. Aya knew this after dealing with Yohji for so many years. The two ate in silence and Aya picked up the bill before they got into the car to take the long way home. 

Silence. Business as usual, Yohji assumed. Aya's hands gripped the steering wheel as a play of emotions scattered across his face. Obviously he wasn't thinking to cover up his emotions like he normally did. Aya. What a strange man. What kind of parents named their male child Aya? Everyone knew that Aya was a girl's name. Maybe Aya wasn't even his real name but if that was so, then why go by it? As if he could hear Yohji's prying thoughts; Aya turned and locked eyes with Yohji's and the silence grew that much more intense. The car rolled to a stop and neither of them moved. 

"Give me a call sometime, I'll be around next week to check up on you." Aya broke the silence first, oddly enough, and Yohji forced himself to blink a few times and remember that he was still sitting in Aya's car.

"Right," The boy said softly and his hand unlocked the car door just as someone else opened it for him… someone from the outside.

"Mr. Fujimiya-san. What a pleasant surprise." It was Yohji's new adopted father.

"Ikido-san." Aya nodded flatly. 

"Won't you come in for bit?"

"No." Aya shook his head, "I'm afraid I have previous arrangements. Perhaps next time." Aya hardly ever came in. 

"It was nice talking to you Fujimiya-san." Yohji sighed then gathered his bag and got out of the car. Aya couldn't help but notice the displeased expression that had taken over the young boy's features.

"I'll see you next week, Yohji." Aya nodded to the two of them then reached over and closed his passenger's door closed. Moving back he kept an eye on the two as they started to walk away. Tinted windows were useful in a job like this. He down shifted then drove away with all the day's events running through his mind in an aggravating continuous loop.

"What did you and Fujimiya-san have to discuss?" Yohji's adopted father prodded as they entered the apartment complex.

"Just about school and me fitting in." The younger man retorted as he slipped out from under his adoptive father's grasp. 

He looked at his adoptive father who was partially glaring at him, though without giving the man so much as a chance to open his mouth, he darted up the stairs and headed towards their apartment. He hated his adoptive father.

The house smelled like stale french-fries and he wrinkled his nose upon entering the place. Some little children were crying and others were running around by his feet in mad chaos. With a sigh he headed towards his room only to be half caught by the voice of his adoptive mother. 

"Yohji? Is that you?"

Cringing Yohji responded, "yes."

"Oh good! Harold and I were worried that you wouldn't be home in time to watch the kids when we go out."

Frowning to himself, Yohji said nothing in response before he drifted back to his room and closed the door. Yet another night he got to play a slave in the endless drama of his life. Wonderful. Sometimes when he was alone with his thoughts late at night, he half wished that Aya had never found him in the cellar of that house. Perhaps he would have lived for only another hour or two but in the end he would have died and not be living this monotonously tragic life.


	2. Into the vibrant maelstrom

Title: Reminiscence of Antiquity

Chapter: 2 - Into the vibrant maelstrom

Rated: PG13 (drinking... phf! laaaame)

Warnings: Eventual shounen-ai ( AxY & KxO)

Legal stuff: Well... I think it's obvious but I'll state it anyway. I down own them! Please don't sue me? I'm poor... seriously..._;;

Author and Editor notes: This was a difficult chapter for me to write and we, the author and editor, apologize because we are still in the exposition phase of this story. It gets better in the next chapter.

Thanks to: My editor. Shaeric Draconis. The Squall x Zell + Aya x Yohji Yaoi fanfic group. Creators of Weiss Kreuz. My fellow Gypsies everywhere.

AYYA! Vive la Resistance!

~*~

Depression all over again. He could feel it in his blood, saturating ever last part of him that each vein wrapped around; feeding his body to the eternal pit of nothingness and sadness that all depressions sprang from. God he wanted out. A soft groan filtered forth past his lips and he turned on a CD loud enough to drown out the noise of children crying, however he minded not to play it loud enough to cause his adoptive parents to freak out. They were sort of anal-retentive about noise levels in the apartment. It probably had something to do with the fact the manager already hated them and was just waiting for a good enough reason to kick them all out. He, most certainly, would not be that reason. He didn't need any additional cause to make his adoptive parents dislike him more then they already did.

That was the problem with those two... he could never please them. As soon as he did one thing right they threw it back in his face with two things he did wrong. He gathered that's how a lot of parents were these days but not every parent could mutter under their breath that it was a mistake to take their child in the first place. Always feeling unwanted and unloved seemed like a new constant in his life... but what could he do. Somewhere he belonged... but that somewhere was not here and probably not anywhere near this place he was forced to call home. Damn. Why couldn't things ever go his way? Just once he would like for them to do so... just ONCE!

Glancing at the clock some time later, Yohji could see the bold red lines take the form of...one in the morning. Terrific... this naturally meant that he was going to be dog tired for school again. Go figure. Never being able to sleep at night did these kinds of things to you when you didn't have the luxury of sleeping in during the days. Being in high school sucked just a little more then normal for that very reason. All classes should never start until lunch has passed. Honestly, what normal functioning teenager (or as functional as a teenager can get) is truly awake anytime before 11 at the earliest? Obviously none that he knew of... well... unless you were counting those slightly freakish people who had natural clocks that woke them up at the crack of dawn but the word freakish should be stressed when describing them.

Giving up on any hope of staying awake any longer, and making it through the day, Yohji reached over and turned off his lamp then laid back against the cool sheets. He didn't have his own room normally but tonight the kids were sleeping out in the living room for some strange reason he had forgotten. He was sure that someone had told him the reason but he, frankly, wasn't exactly listening to who ever told him and considering his habit of never listening to his adoptive parents he decided it was probably them who had told him the news. Heavy lids fell over his jade eyes and he finally sunk into a dreamless sleep only to be awoken but the sound of the world's most annoying alarm clock. Another day of life. Another day of hell. It was going to be a wonderful day.

***

"Oro! Yohji! Wait up!" Ken called as he ran after the lanky teenager who was walking rather quickly down the street.

It had been a week and a half since Yohji first arrived at the high school and he and Ken were becoming really good friends... almost best friends even, much to Yohji's amusement of course. Why was he so amused? Perhaps because he hadn't expected to make any friends this time around. Or perhaps because he never had to really put forth an effort in order to receive Ken's friendship. Handed to him on a silver platter, Yohji simply accepted the friendship and smiled a little more because of it. Slowing down a little he let Ken catch up with him and walk with him down the street of the crowded city. People pushed past in a hurry to get to where they had to be but Yohji... Yohji was actually taking the long way home for rushing was the last thing he wanted to do when it involved the length of time it took him to get home. 

"You're slow KenKen." Yohji laughed, knowing exactly how much Ken hated that nickname.

"Well if you didn't have such ridiculously long legs, Yotan, then I wouldn't have to run to catch up with you..." Ken poked at Yohji's side, knowing very well that Yohji disliked the pet name Ken had come up with as a counter to KenKen.

"Ah, well, I can't exactly help what's in my genes..."

Ken lifted an eyebrow, "Jeans? Oh, sure you can... you just say no."

Yohji turned and looked at Ken for a moment just before the two of them broke out into laughter. They walked together for a bit in silence, passing an old woman who was trying to get people to stop so she could read them their fortune or at the very least, give them a rune or tarot reading. Ken had only looked at the old woman once but wrinkled his nose at her nonetheless and quickened his pace so he could move past her without her trying to stop him.

"Damn gypsy low-lifes need to get a home and get a job." Ken muttered.

"Lay off Ken." Yohji hissed suddenly.

"What's your problem?"

"Put yourself in their shoes for just a minute, why don't you?"

"Why? They're just bums?

"They're not just bums. They have no place to go and they live a very hard life. They're just trying to make money like anyone else. For gawd's sake, they're the neglected orphans of the world, you can't just dismiss them as bums."

Ken blinked twice Yohji then frowned, "Jeez sorry, what are you, a gypsy or something?" Ken mocked a little but got no response.

"Amir?" The old gypsy woman questioned once the two passed her.

"Keep walking,." Yohji instructed Ken and Ken did as he was told.

In the back of his mind, Ken pondered why gypsies were such a sore spot for Yohji. Perhaps because Yohji was an orphan who had been forced to move so much that he felt like a gypsy? That was certainly a possibility. Ken and his older brother were orphans but he was never shipped off from person to person because his brother was old enough to take care of them both. In the end this caused Ken to lose his sympathy towards gypsies and not other orphans. Yohji probably knew this was the case and that must have been why he made the comparison that he did. Ken would have never thought of gypsies as orphans of the world but now that Yohji had pointed it out, it suddenly made a lot of sense. Ken suddenly found himself slowly regretting ever telling gypsies off when all they were trying to do was make a little money like everyone else. A sigh left Ken just before he and Yohji said their good-byes at the road that he had to turn on to get to his place. 

***

The first school bell was about to ring in the next couple of minutes and Yohji was barely inside the building. Naturally the entrance he had taken was on the opposite side of the building from his locker. Perfect. He already had the feeling he was going to be really late to his first hour class, which wouldn't serve him well because after this tarty he would end up serving a punishment of some form; be it cleaning desks, chalkboards, floors - he didn't know but no matter what the punishment was, he knew damn well he wasn't going to like it. Running through the hall the blond reached his locker and began to desperately spin the combination so he could get into the little metal compartment and pick up his book for first hour all in order to avoid a chewing out from the teacher. Why didn't his adoptive parents take care of the kids in the morning? Why didn't they make sure that they were all up and ready to go to school or day care? Why didn't they walk their kids to the bus stop and wait with them to get on the bus and make sure they would be okay? Probably because they were lazy, irresponsible, no good-

"Yohji!" The voice cut right through his thoughts like a hot knife through butter.

"Ken?" Yohji blinked a few times and the locker clicked to tell him he had entered the right combination, "You're going to be late for class."

"What are you talking about? Class doesn't start for another ten minutes." Ken laughed lightly and Yohji just looked down at his watch.

"Damn, I guess my watch is fast." Yohji groaned then turned towards his locker, "Remind me to fix it sometime today."

"No pro- what is that?" Ken pointed to the objects inside the locker and Yohji just blinked.

"I haven't a..." Yohji started then stopped. 

Carefully reaching in he slowly pulled out pieces of translucent material along with a harder object made of many different... things. An old spark plug, a black feather, horsehair, bits of fabric, bottle caps, grass and gods only know what else. Why would someone put it in his locker? Why would someone pull together odd mismatched parts to make... whatever it was. He turned the object over a couple of times then lifted an eyebrow when he was suddenly struck with the lightening bolt of realization as to what the object really was.

"Aren't you a bit old to be playing with dolls, Yotan?" Ken smirked while elbowing Yohji in the ribs. Apparently Ken understood what all the miscellaneous pieces formed at the same time Yohji had.

"What day is it?" The older blond murmured with an expression that was suddenly very serious.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, what day is it?"

"March 3."

"Damn."

"What?"

"It's my birthday."

"What?! You're birthday?" The soccer player gawked then shook his head, "You didn't tell me you had a birthday so soon! Why aren't you happy?"

"They found me."

"Who is they?"

"You'll see." Yohji groaned as he leaned against his locker, still holding the doll, "Five... four... three...two..."

"What are you-"

"AMIR!!!" A scream echoed through the halls.

"One."

Ken was looking around frantically trying to see who was screaming and why when he noticed a group of five people, in very strange clothing, running towards them. The sound of bells fluttering around the five like the brightly colored fabrics, which were wrapped around their bodies in numerous layers, were dead give aways that these people weren't exactly from there. Actually, the five appeared as though they should be anywhere but a thriving city in Japan though there they were... running towards them at high speeds in a public school in the middle of a thriving city in Japan. Oh well, never put too much faith in anything these days... least of all people. The five, who were moving down the hall with such flamboyancy, laughed as they ran then suddenly stopped just in front of the two, much to Ken's surprise and partial horror. Ken could only blinked at them before glancing over at his taller friend who seemed completely unfazed by the sight of these strange people staring at them. Did they know him? Did he know them? Did anyone know what was going on? He didn't.

"Amir!" One of the young girls in the bizarre group squealed with excitement as she threw her arms around him and pulled him into a hug, "Oh Amir, we've looked everywhere for you and we finally found you on your birthday! We're so lucky, no?" She grinned then backed away a little to get a good look at him, "My you've changed since we saw you last... for one... you cut your hair!" She gasped then placed her hands over her mouth to hide a grin, "It looks all right on you."

"Thanks, I thought it was a nice change from the waist long style." He shrugged and Ken was left to look between them as if they had all grown three heads and two extras arms.

"Amir..." An older girl, about Yohji's age with very short blue hair stepped forward.

"Asuka..." Yohji nodded then smiled "Long time no see..."

"Indeed... come. It's time for your birthday celebration."

"I can't-" Yohji started but was completely ignored as one of the five stepped forward and picked him up.

"Oh you've gotten lighter since I last saw you." The man who had picked Yohji up laughed and tossed Yohji over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and proceeded to carry him off. Yohji wasn't terribly heavy but he did weigh more then what the guy made it seem like he weighed. 

A bit lost to what was going on, Ken could only watch four of the people and Yohji head towards the double doors.

"Are you a friend of Amir's?" The dark blue haired girl started then shook her head " I mean Yohji."

Why were they calling Yohji 'Amir'? "Yes." Ken nodded at this and turned his attention fully onto the oddly dressed girl before him.

"Would you like to come along with us?"

"Where are you headed?"

"There is an open field belonging to close friends where we have gotten permission to camp. It's not very far from here but far enough so that we won't cause much trouble when we celebrate Yohji's birthday."

Ken nodded slowly; so much information to take in. The school bell rang and the soccer player looked down at his watch. If he left for class now then he would only be a minute late but if he left with the girl... 

"Lead the way!" Ken suddenly flashed the girl a grin while tossing his worries out the window. You needed to live a little sometime, right?

"I'm Asuka, by the way."

"Hidaka Ken." 

"A pleasure to meet you Ken." Asuka nodded while they drifted towards the double doors that Yohji had been literally dragged out of.

"The pleasure is all mine, Asuka."

***

The trip outside of the city limits in the van could only described as the most excruciating uncomfortable silence Ken had ever experienced. Asuka had been busy talking to the driver the whole way up in some other language and the others were apparently busy with something else in the back. Ken had, at one point, turned to talk to Yohji but by the sour look on Yohji's face, Ken decided that might not be such a hot idea. So, up until the last five minutes of the trip, Ken stared out the window and watched the scenery pass him by.

"No way." The teen blond crossed in arms in protest as the van moved along the highway.

"No choice." Asuka smiled cutely then broke her smile for an evil grin.

"Asuka... I'm not wearing all of that." Yohji sunk into his seat while motioning to a bag with numerous brightly colored objects within its grasp.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm-" he didn't get much farther for the van had pulled to a nearly instant stop.

"We're here, everyone pile out!"

Without so much as a breath of another argument, Asuka gathered the bag and got out of her seat to walk to the back of the van where the doors were opened for her. She covered her eyes from the blaring morning sun then warmed her own face with the hint of a smile. All sorts of oddly dressed people crossed the field, which was scattered with tents, to walk towards the gate and the van. In the distance music could be heard and just beyond the music, singing, laughter and conversations. Ken stole a peek out from behind Asuka and simply gawked. 

There, in a normal field next to a house surrounded by a fence and the countryside, stood tents and strange people a plenty. All sorts of spices and wonderful smells flooded Ken's senses while they danced in the air like the noise he had heard before he ever looked out of the van. What a wondrously strange sight it was to him - a boy who had never spent much time outside the city or with any person who was more abnormal then your typical high school student. These people were completely new and different for him... these people were true gypsies. A pause in Ken's thoughts caused him to look back at Yohji who was still hanging back like a poor sport on one of the van's many seats. Was Yohji a gypsy? Understanding dawned upon the dark haired teen after a moment more worth of thought and concentration. That was it. These people were Yohji's people and that made Yohji a gypsy! Feeling like the genius, Ken couldn't suppress the smile curling upwards on his lips.

"Is he in there?" A young child questioned once she had approached the unmoving vehicle.

Asuka smiled at the child "Yes... he's here. We found him."

With what appeared to be sparkles in the child's eyes, the little girl squealed and ran off towards a more distant group of children who were eagerly awaiting her return with news that they had probably sent her off to question. Only a few seconds had transpired in which she must have pushed out everything she had to say to the children her age all before, within the blink of an eye, they were all running towards the van laughing and calling to them in another language entirely. 

"Amir!" Asuka yelled into the van, "Your fan club is here, get out of there and stop pouting! It's only one day of school that you're missing. Surely you are not still sore about that? Two years ago you must have skipped at least-" She was cut off by Yohji.

"I know how much school I missed, Asuka."

"Well then stop being a baby and get out here or I'm sending people in to get you!"

Yohji stubbornly held his place and didn't move, so Asuka as left with the only decision she could make. Hopping out of the van, the blue hair girl motioned for four rather large men to get the unsuspecting Yohji out of the van. Wordlessly, the four crawled into the van and drug out a highly irritated looking Yohji past Ken who had crawled out of the van only a few seconds after the four crawled in. The soccer playing boy continued to watch as the men, with less grace then he had seen in a dying seagull, began to remove articles of Yohji's clothing and toss them aside carelessly. Ken shifted and wondered why they would do this in the middle of a field when it was clear that Yohji didn't want it to happen. How was it clear? Yohji, in an unceremonious fashion, did not allow the men to deprive him of his clothing without as much resistance and noise as he could possible summon in the short amount of time he had been given. Upon finishing their task, the four men all left Yohji to stand in his underwear with a blush so red it could be the envy of hell's fire. Shortly after this, perhaps to save Yohji's withering dignity, a group of girls came forth and quickly set to the task of dressing him in odd clothing like theirs.

After placing a pair of black harem pants, a black vest, numerous amounts of jewels, flowers from only gods know where and plenty of eye make-up with designs to last the boy a lifetime, Yohji was finished... a bit ruffled but nonetheless finished and looking exactly like... a gypsy. It was then that Ken noticed the music really starting up as did the other interesting noise of voices in different tongues to accompany it. Be it song or conversation, different dialects from around the world littered the air causing Ken's sense of hearing to be utterly captivated and tantalized.

The dark haired boy slowly glanced around bewildered in awe of all the things happening. Children were playing games. Women and men were singing, dancing and playing the music. The older looking folks were talking and telling stories, which was obvious by the hand gestures they were using and some other people looked to be cooking, which, to Ken at least, smelled divine. So much to see, question and do that the poor boy was lost, confused and left to swim amongst all of this chaotic sea of happenings. The questions without answers drilled in his head simply to add more noise to what was already there. Why was he there? Did he belong? Would they hate him? Did they care? What did they think of outsiders? Where they nice? Where they evil? It wasn't until the angelic voice of creature, whose appearance was equally as resplendent, broke through Ken's hazed mind did the youth realize he needed to breathe.

"Amir!" Came the sing song voice that rivaled the sound of heavenly bells.

Ken and Yohji turned to see a young blond haired and blue eyed boy running towards them possessing the air of happiness which left most feeling like the boy was the essence of prozack. The blond was a little younger than them but not by much... probably only by a year or two however, in taking a few more looks at the boy, Ken soon came to the opinion that the youth could be almost any age for he had that certain look to him that broke the standards of judging age by appearance. Deep blue eyes filled with a high intellect yet a youthful angelic face filled with kindness and perhaps nativity. The youngest blond male threw his arms around the older one and instantly broke into a continuous stream of chatter in something that sounded... Middle Eastern? The two talked for just a minute before Yohji turned and looked at Ken.

"Ken, this is a good friend of mine, Omi. Omi, this is a friend from my new high school, Ken."

"Pleased to meet you, Ken-san!" the blond youth, now known as Omi, laughed while holding out a hand to Ken who was appearing a bit dazed from having all of his senses overloaded with all that was happening around him.

"Huh?" The dark hair boy blinked first before he shook the daze away and took Omi's hand in his, "Pleased to meet you Omi." 

"It's nice..." Omi spoke up once he withdrew his hand from Ken's, "to see that Amir has actually made new friends."

Yohji's face twisted into a look of resentment in what Omi had to say but he didn't make a move to counter or respond, rather, he looked away and let his jade eyes drift over to where his people were. Ken, who happened to be watching closely for no real reason at all other than to watch for a response of some kind, noticed that under the sour displeasure upon the older teen's face there was the distinct look of familiarity and, if one searched harder, the distant look of contentment. This was where Yohji belonged, Ken half realized in his musings. Not in some run down part of a hopeless city. No, Yohji belonged with these people... with -his- people. A frown melted down Ken's constant smile when he felt a ting of sadness for his fellow classmate. Yohji was trapped in a world of strict city order, common rules, heartless business people and the critical classifications of distrust and disgust placed upon him because of his people's history. In an even more distant thought Ken wondered how much crap Yohji had to put up with in the past and present.

"So Ken, I don't suppose you know any other languages besides Japanese?" Omi's voice filtered through Ken's head and profound thoughts.

"Actually... I don't." Ken blushed a little, feeling slightly inept.

"Oh." The younger boy said flatly then instantly smiled again, "Well if you will follow me around, I will be more than happy to do some translating for you!"

The soccer player just lifted an eyebrow and shrugged, "Sure, why not." He paused for a minute to notice Yohji walking towards a group of elders, "Where is Yohji going?"

"He has to announce his presence to the elders and talk with them for a bit. No doubt he will be talking with them a lot today since there is much to discuss."

"Like what?" 

"Oh... just lots of stuff..." Omi shrugged and Ken got the distinct feeling that Omi wasn't telling him something on purpose. Oh well, Ken knew it wasn't his place to question such things.

The day slowly moved on in a haze of dance, drink and fun. Ken couldn't remember having such a good time in a rather long while. He was relaxed and entertained and comfortable with the gypsies that played and worked all around him. It wasn't until the sun had fallen and the tribe had gathered around what appeared to be a bonfire set up earlier in the day that Ken knew the party was not about to end anytime soon. With fleeting care he guess that it was going to be an interesting all nighter that he wouldn't soon forget. In the place just around the bonfire there was a lot of chattering weaving through the air and after the younger kids were put to bed the chattering slowed down to a faint hum so a storyteller or a singer could entertain the group around the campfire. Every other person had a drum and at times the whole group would sing and play their tribal drums which, with the help of Omi, wasn't so bad for Ken. Omi. Omi was doing a great deal of work translating everything for Ken who would have, no doubt, been lost otherwise. Ken reminded himself to thank the kid later when they had a chance to talk more privately. 

"You know..." came a half whispered voice to Omi from Ken as an elder storyteller started talking, "I have only seen Yohji maybe twice today..."

Blue eyes focused on Ken once Omi turned to look at him, "Yohji is very popular in this tribe and since we see so little of him, his attention gets torn dramatically when it comes time for his birthday."

"Do you have these kinds of celebrations for every member of your... tribe... on their birthdays?" Ken lifted an eyebrow pondering that more seriously.

"No, Yohji is just special." The younger boy smiled ruefully.

"Why?"

"Yohji will one day be the leader of this tribe." Asuka, who had been listening to their conversations the whole night, cut in.

"Why?" Ken asked again, turning to the girl who had spoken.

"Because the elders choose him to be our prince since he was very young." The blue haired girl shrugged half heartedly, as if Ken should have known that, "You see, that's why his tribal name is Amir."

"Amir means...?" Ken pressed.

"Amir means prince and since we're on the topic of Amir..." Omi cut in, "Where is he right now?"

"Over there, talking with the elders again." Asuka pointed to a small group of old men who were holding up the foot of a slightly peeved Yohji. 

"What are they doing?" Ken chuckled as he watched the older men staring at the heel of Yohji's foot and arguing back and forth about what was on it.

"Who knows." Asuka shrugged then leaned back on the chair she had set up for herself.

Another song kicked up and Ken just leaned back in his chair as well, taking in all the surroundings and leaving the conversation he was having for death while he moved on to think of other things in the quiet of his mind. This life they all lead was such a different life than he was used to. There were rules, but they did not seem to be the same rules of the world he lived in. Yes there were similarities but to counter each of those similarities were differences followed by more differences that he couldn't even begin to fathom. Not saying the differences were bad, they were just... well... different. Deeper down into the workings of his mind Ken felt himself suddenly regretted making fun of gypsies in the past. Who was he to make fun of these people? Who was he to mock what he did not know? Music and song swirled all around him, forcing him to suddenly lose concentration on anything he had been attempting to keep attention on. Then it happened. For a moment in time he was at peace with everything and anything; extracting all negative thoughts and cares while leaving only two things he really cared about: life and happiness. Perhaps this was the way people were really meant to live... perhaps this was the way -he- was meant to live?

A new beat broke up the boy's clouded mind which in turn forced him to focus on a group that everyone else was focused on. Just outside the circle around the bonfire was a small circle of five girls, five boys and Yohji, who happened to be in the middle of the group. Yohji was clearly drunk but, as if by some act of god, he was still able to dance with his fellow gypsies. Was this a tradition or just them having a good time? It was often hard to tell because it seemed as if their traditions involved a great deal of fun for the most part. As Yohji laughed and danced with the group, Ken began to notice things about Yohji that he had never noticed before. The most obvious were tattoos.

Yohji had many visible tattoos upon his person and probably just as many currently non-visible ones: tribal armbands, bellybutton designs and a pair of large Celtic wings upon his back that had yet to be finished.

"Every birthday since he was ten, Amir has been getting tattoos." Omi noted, as if he was reading Ken's mind, "The current one he has been working on for a while is the pair of wings on his back. Over the last two years he would get more and more done on it. It'll probably be finished by next year."

"Since he was ten?" Ken gaped in amazement, missing everything else Omi had said. The young gypsy just nodding as a response.

The dance ended and the dancers scattered, or rather staggered, off to different locations in the encampment. Laughter and cheering followed them but it was doubted that any of the dancers noticed or cared inside their belligerently drunken state. Ken didn't see anymore of Yohji after that point until ten in the morning the next day when the older boy had come to wake him up. It was a beautiful Saturday morning. Too beautiful. Too morning. Ken groaned and rolled over, drawing next to Omi in the little tent they had claimed sometime in the night, which only caused Yohji to sigh in defeat. He wasn't about to fight with a sleepy Ken. Who would want to? Leaving the tent to head towards a late breakfast, the two boys didn't actually leave the campsite until well after noon once they had said their good-byes and thank you's.

"Is your brother going to get mad at you for ditching school and not coming home?" Yohji murmured to Ken as they rode in the van back to their respective homes.

"Na." Ken chuckled, "Omi took me up to the house so I could make a phone call to my brother to tell him what happened. He didn't seem to really care."

"Oh, that's a relief."

"Are your rents gonna get mad?"

Yohji shrugged, "Don't know, don't care."

Silence followed and both got the same feeling it was going to be a long day.


	3. Wishing to be Free

Title: Reminiscence of Antiquity

Chapter: 3 – Wishing to be free

Rated: PG13 (?)

Warnings: Eventual shounen-ai ( AxY & KxO)

Legal stuff: Well... I think it's obvious but I'll state it anyway. I down own them! Please don't sue me? I'm poor... seriously..._;;

Author and Editor notes: None for now, are you impressed?

Thanks to: My editor. Shaeric Draconis. The Squall x Zell + Aya x Yohji Yaoi fanfic group. Creators of Weiss Kreuz. My fellow Gypsies everywhere.

AYYA! Vive la Resistance!

~*~

Sneaking into the apartment wasn't easy. Not in the middle of the day. Not with five little kids all gathered 

in the living room and hallway waiting for you to return. And definitely not with three very angry adults waiting up for you. Yohji was pretty much screwed from the start and he knew it. Closing the front door behind him he could feel the tension thick in the air, making breathing a somewhat unpleasant experience.

"Yohji," came the statement and closing his eyes, he swallowed hard.

Stepping into the living room, all eyes were upon him and he knew he was in some serious trouble. Maybe he should have called them? Maybe he shouldn't have gotten so drunk so early? Maybe he shouldn't have gone at all? Shaking his head he sighed and rubbed one of his throbbing temples. This was going to be hell on his already painful hangover. He didn't need this right now.

"Where were you?"

Oh yes, he -really- didn't need this right now, "Out."

The anger directed towards him would have been worse if Aya had not been one of the three adults standing there. Sometime in the process of him being gone they must have called Aya and informed him that he was missing. It was probably Aya who prevented them from raising hell in half the countryside over his "mysterious disappearance".

"Excuse me, young man?" That was his adoptive father. Even with his eyes closed Yohji could see the disgust on the man's face and he somehow felt ashamed for what he was, even though he knew that was wrong.

"I... went out with some friends, I'm sorry I didn't call. I forgot." He started again, maybe a bit more of a "I'm sorry" approach would appease the angry adults before him.

Opening his eyes he took note of all the emotions playing upon everyone's faces except Aya's. His adoptive father was, as he thought, disgusted. His adoptive mother was livid. Most of the children were amused and glad it was not them in trouble with the exception of the oldest who held some sympathy for Yohji and his current situation. But Aya. Oh no, Aya was perfectly in control of himself and therefore showed no emotions upon his face or in his eyes. Aya was a very controlled person and Yohji suddenly felt very relieved that he was there... even if he knew he would be living in hell the minute the older man left.

"Why did you go out?" Emerald orbs shifted over to gaze at such disapproving charcoal colored ones.

"It was my birthday." The youth spoke flatly and was partly amused by the flicker of surprise followed by a wince in his adoptive parent's expressions. That's right, none of them knew when his birthday was... they always forgot... or perhaps they never cared to remember.

"Yohji, why don't you ever tell us anything? You never talk to us...we were so worried that we almost called the cops," Yohji could hear his adoptive mother say with false concern. That always made him sick. They only pretended when they had company. He hated false emotions and faked concern.

"But you called Aya instead." Yohji pointed out, letting his eyes play back over to Aya who was standing firm in his spot. No response. Aya was good when he was mad. Or was he really mad at all? Yohji couldn't tell at this point, not with Aya, simply because he could never read Aya.

"You will respect Fujimiya-san in this house hold, young man and call him by his surname," the supposed father went on. Yohji nearly rolled his eyes. He had known Aya since before he was a teenager. Aya was practically his best friend and here this man assumed to tell him how to treat his own friend and on top of it all, belittle him by calling him a 'young man' and not by his name. He hated that about most adults.

"Yes, Ikido-san." Yohji said mockingly, half hoping to anger his adoptive father. They both knew that his adoptive father couldn't blow up when Aya was there and so he was going to push all the buttons he could under Aya's protection. He was going to get into trouble anyway, might as well have fun on the way down.

"Why are you dressed in that ridiculous outfit?" Yohji's eye twitched as he turned to look at Mrs. Ikido.

"It's not ridiculous." He said flatly in defense.

"You're practically wearing a skirt and on top if it you're wearing makeup. Are you trying to become a girl or something?" She laughed her snooty little laugh and Yohji glared at her. She knew where to sting him and pretend she was only joking.

"You couldn't be less ignorant." He muttered darkly and the "man" of the house decided to jump all over it.

"You will not talk to your mother in that manner!"

"She's not my mother!" He snapped.

"She's more of a mother than yours ever was. At least she has a job and helps keep a roof over your head."

Nothing. He just stared at them in disbelief. How dare they. They had no right to down his mother. Turning on his heel he walked straight for the front door before he punched one of them.

"Get back here this instant, young man!"

Yohji didn't listen, in fact, he just kept walking. To hell with those people. Bitter tears began to streak down his face. Why was he crying? Was it because they made fun of him? No, he could care less if they made fun of the way he dressed... it was his mother that he cared about. Slamming the door on his way out he went straight for the stairs at the end of the hall. Yohji's adoptive father ran out after him and grabbed him by the arm but Yohji yanked his arm away as fast as he could, barely keeping himself from hitting the man.

"Don't touch me!" He screamed at the older man, "Don't you ever touch me again!" and with that he was across the hall and down the stairs.

Once he was out of the building he didn't care where he was going. He just ran blindly as fast as he could and as far as he could without looking back or thinking to stop. He must have been a strange sight to the people he ran straight past. Then again, most teenage boys dressed in gypsy clothing and makeup running down the middle of the sidewalk in the slums of Japan would be a strange sight. Stopping only when he was out of breath he ducted into an ally and sunk to the ground, not caring that it was covered in filth. The hot tears rolled down his face and he wanted nothing more then to curl up into a little ball and die. The pain in his back from his tattoo was stinging twice as bad as the throbbing migraine right behind his eyes.

He wanted his home back. He wanted his mother back. He wanted his old life back. He was so very tired of the life he had been living. Tired of the moving from place to place; tired of the rejection and violating stares he always got when he went somewhere new. Nobody understood and so they mocked him and his way of life. The tears weren't helping his headache but there wasn't much he could do to stop them. It was there, in that very moment, he felt so alone and so pathetic. What other practically adult male ran away from home and cried for himself in an alley? He hated himself for being so weak but what else was new? Footsteps. Footsteps coming towards him were new.

"Hey."

"If you're going to try and convince me to go back then just turn around and leave, Aya."

There was a short pause before Aya spoke again, "Did you want a milkshake?"

Yohji looked up with his reddened eyes at the man standing before him, "Only if you're paying." He smiled faintly.

"Deal." Aya muttered then turned and headed towards his car which Yohji was surprised he never heard following him or park nearby.

Gathering himself together the blond rose to his feet and leaned against the wall for a minute so he wouldn't fall over from blacking out. It took a minute before he could see again and after that minute passed, he wandered out of the alley and into Aya's car. No words transpired between them on the way to their fast food place. That's right, their fast food place. Aya wasn't very adventurous when it came to food so whenever he picked out a place that served "decent food" he stuck with it. Yohji grew accustomed to this and over time he thought of it as 'their fast food place'. The car pulled to a stop and the two of them got out and wandered into the little restaurant, made their orders, received their shakes, then continued to sit in silence. So much silence. Why was Aya always so quiet? Was he really all that silent or was it Yohji being paranoid of the lack of noise?

"Aya I-" Yohji started but Aya simply shook his head and the words died in Yohji's mouth.

"You know you should have called your guardians, Yohji. You also know that you're supposed to try and fit into this family..."

"Aya, you can't-"

"Be quiet until I am finished, Kodou-san." Aya frowned. Yep, he was mad. "You could have caused a big commotion and in the worse case scenario, you could have gotten yourself put right back into the orphanage. I'm not asking you to like them but I -am- asking you to try and obey their rules and give them a little respect."

"But-"

"I haven't finished yet." Aya cut in, sending Yohji a warning glance, "I understand your discomfort with them and I also can see why you dislike them but Yohji... you're running on thin ice." In the amethyst eyes there was a hint of concern, genuine caring. "You don't have a lot of options left. Do you -want- you end up in the orphanage until you are of age?"

Yohji was silent as he stared straight back at Aya whose gaze never wavered. It was, of course, the youngest of the pair who dropped his gaze to the table first. Even if he hated those people... even if he couldn't stand the conditions he lived in... he wanted to please Aya. Why? Who the hell knew. Yohji sunk a little into the booth that he was sitting in with a sigh. Aya was just someone he looked up to, someone who had saved his life and stuck his neck out for Yohji countless times. Aya defended him and Aya gave him friendship when no one else would. Maybe... maybe that's why he always wanted to please Aya. He wanted to prove to Aya that the man did not make a mistake when he defended him all those times.

"I know..." Aya stared to speak again, causing Yohjis head to snap up in attention, "...I know that what they said back there hurt you more than they could have known it would but ... it didn't make it right." Aya wasn't good at giving sympathy so it made Yohji smile a little when the older man tried, "It wasn't fair of them to bring up something that they had no business sticking their noses in to. I guess some people are just insensitive bastards like that."

Yohji almost choked on the milkshake he had just took a sip from. Aya wasn't one to throw out insults like that...ever. Aya must have been in an odd mood. Yep, the ghost of a smile was placed on Aya's lips and Aya rarely smiled.

"Thank you." The blond teen spoke lightly as he shifted in his seat.

"You're welcome." Aya nodded then turned his attention to the milkshake in hand. This was the way things were between Yohji and Aya and both were fine with that. Somewhere as a distant thought, Yohji wondered what life would be like without Aya and to answer that ever distant thought he decided that he didn't care to know. Why bother to question what wasn't when he was content with what was? It was a waste of time and effort and that's something that he wasn't about to spend any amount of energy upon. Not today anyway.

"Are the wings finished?"

"Next year I'm getting some details done and then I think it will be finished."

Aya nodded and the corner of his lips twitched into something that resembled a smirk. Or at least a smirk in Aya's body language which Yohji had earned a master's degree in. After a second of nothing, the two went back into their respective shells of silence though neither of the two bothered to put up their masks of emotionlessness. No, there was no point to do so around the other because each knew their companion's true self and to hide it would only be a futile effort that neither of the two really cared to bother themselves with. 

Once the milkshakes were downed, they left the restaurant and headed back towards Yohji's house keeping the quiet between them ever present. With Yohji's parents it was always an uproar, with the gypsies it was always some kind of commotion and with Ken it was always just noise but with Aya... with Aya came the cessation of sound and in this world of chaos, the silence Aya brought was welcomed to Yohji.

The car pulled to a stop right in front of Yohji's apartment place where Aya turned to look at the boy who was staring straight ahead, trying his damnedest not too look over at the haunting building towering above them to their right.

"Do you want me to go in with you?" Aya slowly spoke smoothly without hesitation.

"No." The teen shook his head as he turned and looked at Aya, pushing a smile as he spoke again, "I can handle this one, Aya, thank you."

Aya, in turn simply nodded, and Yohji opened the door to take a breath of unpleasant city air. He wrinkled his nose slightly at the smell and sight of the urban wasteland he so regrettably called home. Closing the door gently he waved to Aya and scrambled to the sidewalk where he could wave and watch his last hope of help drive away. Swallowing hard he turned and headed closer to the building. He had to prove to Aya that he could do something on his own... he had to prove to the man that he wasn't a waste of time and effort... he wasn't a waste of -Aya's- time and effort. The main rusty door squeaked and groaned from being opened when it would have rather rusted shut. With a sigh he slipped inside then climbed the many stares to his apartment where he paused before doing anything more. This was going to be hell... he knew it but he determined not to fail, no matter what. The apartment door open and he stepped inside, sealing his fate for what was to transpire of his adoptive parent's wrath.

Walking down the hallway and rounding the corner he could see them seething and bubbling in their own anger and disgruntledness over the events earlier. When they turned and both stared at him he balled his hands into fists by his side and once more prepared himself for the lecture and wrath that would, no doubt, ensue. Part of him really wished he could have Aya beside him. Part of him really wished he would just die right then and melt away from the disapproving look in his guardian's eyes though part of him knew he had to be strong. He knew he couldn't depend on Aya forever and he knew that most of this was his fault anyway and he should accept the consequences of his actions and

carelessness.

"Yohji..." Cue the drum roll please, "We're very disappointed in the way you behaved this afternoon, in front of Fujimiya-san no less."

Yohji gritted his teeth and tightened his fists a little, he hated the way they pretended to know Aya. They knew nothing of the man... they knew nothing of his and Aya's friendship... they only assumed that Aya simply "put up with him" like everyone else.

"You should have at least called to let us know where you were!" And so the avalanche of a lecture fell over him and suffocated him.

Biting his bottom lip and digging his nails into the palms of his hands were effective ways of avoiding a break out from his end. How much he wanted to yell back and defend himself though he didn't. Quietly he accepted their accusations and insults; allowing them to ride out their power trip. What could he say them? He did everything against their wishes and was careless enough to worry everyone when he didn't come home and was reported absent the school . This lecture was well deserved, however, the insults and stabs at his heritage were not. His eyes narrowed at them and his teeth grind together to stop him from snapping at them. They were idiots and they caused him to realized just how much he disliked them. Wanting the babble to end, Yohji pretended to be humble and sorry before them. He was such a good little actor.

The teen's hands were wet and it took him a minute to realize that fact, though he didn't bother to glance down at his hands; not until they had finished with their self-righteous arguments.

"And so..." Yohji's step father was finishing up at last. Oh thank gawd. "You're grounded to the house for the next two weeks. We'll come up with more

of a punishment after we've discussed it later."

Joygasams. "Fine."

"Now go to your room, we want to see it clean before dinner."

He wasn't about to tell them he already ate, "Fine."

Turning on his heel he practically marched all the way to his shared room. Lucky for him the little brats that he always took care of weren't in there. That was certainly one less thing he had to worry about. Blood. It was blood that made his hands wet earlier; no wonder his hands hurt. Apparently digging your nails into the palm of your hand cuts the skin and causes you to bleed. Go figure. The blond bent down and picked up a relatively clean towel to wipe up the tiny streams of blood pooling in the creases of his aching hands. Half mesmerized by the stains of crimson all over; he felt himself start to slip.

/Widened eyes filled with shock took in the horror of what was laid out before him. He wrinkled his nose at the pungent odor that tainted the air while he cautiously moved to the motionless figure's side. The child hesitantly reached out and touched the frigid stationary body then instantly pulled back as if it had bit him. There was dark liquid all around- warm, thick and almost black liquid and nothing but hysteria was written across the youth's face when he finally had the nerve to turn the person over and find it was his mother, or something that resembled her. The woman's face was too badly beaten and bloody to tell for sure if it really was his mother or not but he guessed by the hair and clothing she wore that it was the one person in the world whom he didn't want it to be. A scream caught in his strained throat and he was paralyzed to the spot. Blood was still oozing out over everything now and all he could do was sit and stare at the lifeless form now half draped across his lap. His hands... his body... all covered in his mother's sticky blood.

Darkness was closing in on him and he felt himself start to choke on it. He couldn't breathe; he couldn't see; he was going to die. And then... nothing. The boy's jade eyes were wide open but he was not in his body. The mind had sent the boy's consciousness far from the reality that was crashing all aroundmhim. Voices called him but he refused to come back. No, in the darkness of his own world was where he would rather be./

"YOHJI!"

The teenager jumped, snapping straight out of his memory to look over at his adoptive father standing in the doorway of his shared room. The man was clearly rankled with him but he couldn't for the life of him understand why. Had he been drifting again? Yohji looked around the room to noticed it was only part of the way done then looked over at the clock to see how much time had passed.

"This room is still a mess." He heard his guardian reiterate what he already knew, "what the hell were you doing for the last hour and a half?" That was a fine question; one in which Yohji himself couldn't even answer. Hour and a half, huh? What the hell -did- he do in that time? He was spacing off but about what? His mind could only draw blanks and upon looking back at his guardian he gathered the feeling that he had -better- come up with something for the man before he found himself in more trouble then he already was in.

"I..." He started, searching for some form of an excuse, "I guess I must have dazed off... or something." It was the truth, now to see if Stalin would accept it as a reasonable one.

"Obviously so." We have a winner, "Get to the kitchen and do the dishes. There is some dinner left for you in the pans. You can eat after you've finished." And with that, the anal retentive human being was gone. Perfect.

Only minutes had passed before Yohji was in the kitchen, doing the dishes and letting his mind wander as he preformed such a mind numbing and somewhat simplistic task. The water fell from the tap, hit the pan and caused the soap to foam, which in turn softened the grime upon the metal. With soft movements in sweeping motions the boy washed away the filth and watched it be tugged down the drain by the force of the moving water. Moving water was always like that; pushing and pulling at objects to get them to move in the same direction as the current. Water flowed together and followed its mass to whatever destination was carved out for it. People were a lot like water and in the mass ocean of people, Yohji felt like a pebble. He was always being pushed and pulled in different directions at the whim of anyone who it pleased to do so. Free will was never his to be had.

All his life he had been pleasing others and he half guessed that for the rest of his life he would be doing the same thing. The boy was a slave to everyone's happiness and he showed it in many different ways but the most common was by pleasing everyone that he could almost all the time. He made his adoptive parents happy by doing what they told him to; he made the gypsies happy by agreeing to be their leader; he made his friends happy by entertaining them in different matters and, in some ways, he made Aya happy by trying to do his best and prove his worth to Aya... prove that he was worth the effort Aya had invested in him.

Was this the way life is supposed to be? He mused over the idea, letting it roll over in his brain while he mulled it into its most simple states in order to understand it better. Life was all about serving, or at least his life was. A sigh escaped him and the water was turned off once he placed the last dish on the drying rack. One day, a small grin formed upon his mouth, he might break free of the cycle and eventually live his life the way he always wanted to live it. He would serve only those he wanted to serve simply because he wanted to serve them, no other reason. One day he would be his own man with no burdens but his own and no life to really worry about but his own. He would live as a person, a human being and not some subhuman slave. Freedom: one day it would be his. 

A glass shattered against the kitchen tiles and spread out across the floor in tiny harmful fragments threatening to bite at anyone's skin that dared to touch them. The blond shook his head and slowly dropped down to his knees so he could pick up the glass shards; freedom was only a silly dream that would never really be his. He couldn't even fool himself into believing that things would ever get better anymore. Crimson against the harsh white floor - his blood upon the harsh white floor. The pain rippling up his arm from the cut across his hand reminded him that he was still alive in the hellish reality of existence. There was no room for dreams anymore, it was time to give up dreaming because nothing would ever come from it - nothing was ever going to change.

to be continued...


	4. Deviation from the hackneyed

Title: Reminiscence of Antiquity

Chapter: 4 – Deviation from the hackneyed 

Rated: PG (yeah… I got nothin')

Warnings: Eventual shounen-ai ( AxY & KxO)

Legal stuff: Well... I think it's obvious but I'll state it anyway. I down own them! Please don't sue me? I'm poor... seriously..._;;

Thanks to: My editor. Shaeric Draconis. The Squall x Zell + Aya x Yohji Yaoi fanfic group. Creators of Weiss Kreuz. My fellow Gypsies everywhere.

AYYA! Vive la Resistance!

****

Author and Editor notes: Still a slightly difficult chapter to write because I don't like _actual_ dialog very much and this chapter if full of it. As a side note: the plot only gets thicker from here on out. This chapter was built in order to get you to chapter 5 .! Oi, hope you like it anyway. Review please? It's very important that I know what you think so I can decide on continuing or not, thanks!

~*~

The school bell rang and informed the student body that classes were to begin in ten minutes. Ten minutes? No sweat! One could make it to their locker before dashing off to their class within ten minutes if nothing got in their way.

"Thank the gods. For once I'm not going to be late to class." Yohji grinned to himself in relief.

"Oro! Yohji!" 

Open mouth, insert foot. The elder teen made a mental note to backhand Karma later when he got a chance.

"Ken!" The blond forced a smile when he turned to see his classmate running towards him. It wasn't that he -wasn't- happy to see Ken it was just Ken had a tendency to keep him talking until they both were late for their morning classes which was exactly what Yohji didn't need right then.

"You're alive?" in Ken talk, that meant: "How did things go with the parents?" The boy obviously didn't waste any time getting down to business, now did he?

"I'm grounded until my next life. What did your brother have to say?" If he could get the subject off of him, Yohji discovered, the better things might be.

"Oh, he just asked me what I did and stuff." Now that was an interesting thought.

"What -did- you do, anyway?"

Ken made a funny face as he glanced down at his watch, "Just hung out with Omi and Auska. Where were you?" Good question.

"Drunk." Duh.

"Obviously." The soccer player rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"So..." Yohji used his conveniently handy conversation skills to divert the subject away from him once more, "What did you guys talk about?"

"You, mostly." And another mission failed for Kodou Yohji, who mentally smacked himself... repeatedly.

"What about me?" Not that he -really- wanted to know. No wait, scratch that. He actually -did- want to know what they were talking about for the pure and simple fact that Omi and Auska just looooved embarrassing their "little Amir" to no ends. Should they have started talking about his last birthday party he was going to have to do a hell of a lot of denying. 'A lot' being the understatement of the year.

"Well..." Ken started as he glanced over at Yohji who waited apprehensively for his reply, "We talked about your tattoos a lot. Omi and Auska said you've been getting them since you were ten... that really true?" They talked about his tattoos? Well that was a relief... sort of.

The blond shifted his jade eyes away from Ken as he considered the question, "No... not exactly."

"What do ya mean, 'not exactly'?"

Yohji stopped walking for a minute to lifted up his hair with a sigh so Ken could see an odd little tattoo, which lay across the back of his neck. "This is my first tattoo and I've had it since as long as I can remember, which happens to be before the age of ten. "

Ken turned his head sideways and wrinkled his brow as he gazed at the odd little thing, "What is it?" Another good question. Ken was getting proficient with those.

"Writing, I guess." Elegant fingers dropped the locks of hair to let them fall back into place about his shoulders in the softest of golden waves.

"Looks like a bunch of scribbles if you ask me."

"Yeah, looks like that to me too," came the retort, which was spoke with the faintest of grins.

"What does it mean?" All right, who was this boy asking all the good questions and what the hell did he do with Ken? Yohji looked the brunette over a couple of times just to make sure he wasn't a pod person. After a minute of inner debate, the gypsy decided that the person walking next to him was the real Ken and it was safe for him to continue their conversation. No sleep and no breakfast did funny things to Yohji's thought process.

"Haven't a clue." And wasn't that the truth?

"You mean you've never had it checked?" Ken was gawking and Yohji could only do his best to suppress the urge to laugh. 

"Had it checked? Like for herpes or something?" The rueful grin played across the boy's lips and only received him a smack upside the head from Ken.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean and no,..." he laughed a little as he rubbed the back of his head, "I've never had it looked at."

"Why not?!" Ken complained and Yohji stopped again to look over his friend. Why the hell was Ken so interested in his tattoos? When the brunette stopped and looked back at him, Yohji was forced to really think about what he had said. Why -hadn't- he ever gotten it checked out? Sure he was a little curious as to what it meant but...

"I guess I never cared." Or something... "I mean, I have so many tattoos that it never really mattered what the one on the back of my neck meant. It's not like I see it enough to really stop and think about it, you know?" That seemed like a reasonable enough answer. 

"Never cared?" Ken looked confused, big surprise there. "Man, if I had something written on the back of -my- neck -I'd- want to find out what the hell it meant! It could be really cool, you know?"

Yohji shrugged at the idea, "It could be cool... then again... it could be something really stupid like 'I was here'."

"Well you'll never know unless you get it looked at." Ah, good point Ken. "Why don't we go ask one of the language teachers and see if they recognize the writing?" Wow, Ken was really on his game today, wasn't he?

"Because class is going to start in a minute." Pointing to the clock above the soccer player's head, Yohji frowned a little; he -really- didn't want to be late for class.. again.

"After school then!" Damn that boy was insistent.

"Fine, fine." Yohji gave up, waving a hand in other's direction with a sigh, "After school we can go check it out but right now I gotta run. I really can't afford another tardy." The idea of getting detention or punishment for being late, again, was -not- exactly his idea of a good time. In fact, he was pretty sure that he didn't need the added stress to his life, which would only result from that particular situation. So, after saying his good-byes to Ken, the blond made a mad dash to his first class and somehow, by the grace of god, managed to be in his seat when the final bell rang. It was then that he made a note to give thanks to some god later.

"Today, class, we have a pop quiz, so, please put away all binders, books and notes and get out a number two pencil." The teacher announced with a grin that could only be described as wickedly sadistic. 

Upon second thought, Yohji decided to scratch the idea of giving thanks. Whatever god was watching over him had a real sick sense of humor, or so concluded the youth as he grimaced over the idea of taking a quiz on something he didn't study with a nightmare of a headache straight from the bowels of hell. It became clearly evident in the precious few seconds he had before the offending quiz was placed on his desk that today was just going to be one of those days. To hell with the backhanding; Karma was going to get an all out ritualized beating.

~*~

"Sorry, guys, I've never seen that kind of writing before..." The teacher leaned against his desk and crossed his arms as he looked at the two who sighed in their defeat.

"Well it was worth a try..." Ken shrugged but he couldn't rid himself of the disappointment he felt. Why was he so disappointed that he could figure out what a tattoo meant? Who knows? It probably rooted from the fact that Ken was a curious creature and constantly needed his curiosity quenched.

"Well, the writing looks rather old. Old enough to be a dead language so maybe you should go check some of the history books in the library." The elder suggested.

"Ah, good plan, we may just go do that. Thank you again Sensei." Yohji bowed then rose quickly to glance at his companion in the short-lived quest, "Ready to go?"

"Sure." The other frowned then he bowed to the teacher, gave his thanks and left.

Following his friend, Yohji couldn't help but feel a little bad for the guy... even if it was just a stupid tattoo. The green-eyed one rubbed the back of his neck out of habit and thought a little about what the teacher had to say. History books, huh? Where would they begin? So many books about so many different things; how in the hell did anyone expect them to find anything on a language they didn't even know the name of?

"Hey Ken..." Yohji spoke at last, causing his friend to pause a little in his stride.

"Yeah?"

"Did you want to go check the library to see if they have anything on ancient languages?"

Ken made a face, "I really can't stand book research; I'd rather talk to people." Well that made everything slightly more difficult. "It's too bad we don't have any connections, ya know?"

"Well..." Yohji looked around as he spoke, as if the walls and floors could give him answers that he didn't have, "Let's just check first and if they don't have anything then I guess I could give Aya a call..."

"Who's she?"

"He," The elder teen corrected, "is an old friend of mine." Yohji could see the question was clearly written across his friend's face, 'Who gave their son a girl's name?', though he decided not to humor Ken this time, mainly because he didn't have the answer himself. 

"Does he know anything about languages?"

And cue the shrug, "Not sure but Aya seems to know a lot of random stuff so it wouldn't hurt to ask him if we run into a dead end."

"Fair enough." The brown eyed boy nodded and caused a smile to appear on the other's face.

"Come on, the library closes in an hour," and with that, they were off.

It took a total ten minutes to ride the bus to the nearest library and another good ten minutes of wandering around the place before the two stumbled across any books on ancient languages. Yohji hadn't done any real book research in years and he half doubted that Ken had ever done any at all. Ken just seemed like the type who would do a little researching, a lot of b.s.ing and somehow pull off a decent grade every time. Lucky bastard. Yohji was good at adlibing and making complete nonsense sound good but he never seemed to pull off a good grade with that talent so he was forced to actually do the research just to get a passing grade. Over the years he learned other little tricks like using his fabulous people skills to get other people to do the research for him so he would only have to lightly double check their work and get a good grade for it. Granted, he didn't learn a lot about history, authors, literary books or science projects that way but the amount of caring he had for all of that belittled its importance to him so, in the end, it never really mattered anyway.

This is not to say that Yohji wasn't a smart kid or well educated for that matter, quit the contrary actually, it was just that the things he deemed important were not placed in history or the function of hydroelectric turbines. There were other people in the world who, he decided long ago, liked to learn about that stuff and did so that they could go on to take jobs involving those subjects or fields of expertise. His calling in life, on the other hand, had little to do with what you could learn about in a science or history class and as a result, his focus on those topics was, well, scarce, to say the least. Turning another page in one of the books he had picked up, he found his eyes were beginning to hurt from all of the reading he had already done. Distantly he wondered if he might someday need glasses... not that he could afford it or anything.

"Hey Yohji...." The blond glanced over the top of his book at Ken who was surrounded by books already looked through.

"Yeah?"

"I'm not having any luck at all, are you?"

"No..." The eldest admitted, closing the book he had been looking through, "I say we call it quits..."

"And call your friend?"

There was a pause as green eyes flickered over to a clock. Aya -should- be off work so he wouldn't be bugging him and the man said he -could- call him anytime he wanted. So why was he so hesitant to call Aya? 

"Sure... and call my friend..." He finally responded after a minute longer of mulling over his musings. 

"Great!" The slamming down of the book and Ken's exclamation startled Yohji into looking over at him. The younger of the two was busy cleaning up his papers and pulling all the books together so he could go drop them off from where he grabbed them. Silly Ken. The ghost of a smile slowly curled onto the elder's lips as he watched his friend scurry about doing what he wanted to do since they started looking through the books. Ken was an amusing person to watch and that was part of the reason Yohji didn't mind him around all the time. Sure the soccer player could get a little loud for his tastes and sure he could be a little thick-skulled sometimes but despite all that... Ken was genuinely a good friend with a good heart.

"Hey Yohji, quit daydreaming and put the books away so we can get going." 

"What?" The blond jumped a little, being pulled from his thoughts so suddenly. 

"I said-"

"Oh, I heard you." The elder cut in with a smile as he rose to his feet and started collecting his books, "You just startled me so it took a second to realize what you said..."

"You're very strange, you know that?"

"Yeah... I'm aware." 

Finishing their tasks in silence they were out of the library and at a payphone within a matter of ten minutes; record timing really though most of the credit went to Ken who seemed a little -too- excited to be getting out of the library. Punching in the number he had memorized over the years, Yohji dialed Aya's number then silently waited as the ringing began. Would Aya answer a call from a payphone to his cellphone? As the third ring went by the blond decided that it was unlikely, considering how weary Aya was of prank calls and things of that nature. When the sixth ring came in with no answer he pushed the phone away from his ear and prepared to hang up when suddenly he heard a distant voice come through the receiver.

"Hello?"

Pulling the phone quickly back he felt his stomach tighten, "Aya?"

"Yohji?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Are you calling from a payphone?" Aya sounded worried and probably for good reason. Yohji rarely called Aya and the few cases that he did it was because he was in a really bad situation and needed someone to bail him out.

"Yes but only because I've been at the library with Ken since school got out."

"What's wrong?"

Yohji smiled and Ken tilted his head to one side curiously, "Nothing's wrong, I... I just need your help on something Ken and I have been working on. Are you busy?"

There was a pause before the slow response came over the line, "No. Do you want me to come get you?"

"That would great actually... you sure it's okay?"

Another pause. Yohji didn't like it when Aya paused like that, "Yes. I'm sure. What Library are you at?"

The youth filled him in on the details of where he and Ken were and then both said their good-byes and hung up. It was simple really, conversations with Aya that is. Everything was straight forward and to the point, which was great for most of the time. However, sometimes the green-eyed teenager just longed for someone to talk about nonsense with. He could talk nonsense -at- Aya and the man would sit there quietly and listen to him babble endlessly until he was done babbling but rarely did he ever join in on the nonsense babble. 

Why was this? Oh, Yohji had a million theories. Perhaps Aya had nothing to say? Maybe the man didn't like talking? It was possible that Aya didn't know -how- to babble about nothing. Yohji sighed and leaned against the payphone; it bothered him a lot that in spite of how much Aya knew about him... he knew very little about Aya. Why? Aya didn't like talking about himself, the boy had assumed, or was it because there wasn't much to tell? He knew Aya lived alone and wasn't tied to anyone but his sister, whom he close to -never- spoke of. Other than that...

"Yohji?" Once again Ken's words broke up his clouding thoughts.

"Oh! Sorry..." The blond smiled and shook his head a little, "Got lost in my thoughts for a minute. Um, Aya said he'd be by in a couple of minutes... he doesn't work very far from here and he was just getting off work so... yeah." 

"Excellent," grinned his friend who just leaned against the pay phone as well.

And then followed silence. Well... as silent as one could get in the middle of a city with people all around and a very bored Ken doing his best to keep his attention occupied with everything around him. Yohji, over the weeks of knowing Ken, had noticed that the boy was both easily distracted and had a low attention span. A -really- low attention span. Chuckling softly the gypsy shook his head and glanced down the street.

"What's so funny?" The question caught Yohji a little off guard.

"What?" He blinked as he turned to Ken who was staring direction at him.

"You were laughing, what's funny?"

"Nothing, KenKen." 

"Hey! Don't call me-"

"Oh look, Aya's car!" Yohji cut Ken off before his friend had a chance to start in on an all too familiar tirade about how much he hated being called 'KenKen'.

"What? Where?" Speaking of easily distracted with low attention span...

"The black Porsche."

"Your friend owns a Porsche?" The question was both answered and ignored when the vehicle pulled up to the sidewalk and stopped in front of them before turning off.

Ken was trying desperately to look in through the tinted windows when the driver's door opened and out stepped a red headed man in a business suit. Lavender eyes turned to look directly at jade ones which only caused the owner of the jade eyes to smile in such a manner that Ken had never seen before. The smile was very very faintly returned as the man in his mid-twenties stepped away from his car and onto the sidewalk where the other two had been waiting. Ken, being Ken, couldn't stop staring at the pale skinned, red haired and lavender eyed person who Yohji called 'Aya'. 

"Thank you for coming Aya..." Yohji had began with the deepest respect and gratitude in his voice. Ken could only lift an eyebrow at this and wonder how the hell these two knew each other. 

"You're welcome" was the short reply before the eyes turned to Ken and went a little cold. What was -that- all about?

"I... don't get it." Ken was thinking out loud again. Yohji could feel a smile crack on his lips as he shook his head a little and looked down at his feet. Ken tended to think out loud a lot and it never ceased to amuse him. Especially because Ken tended to have some down right strange thoughts and most of the time they were entirely random.

"What don't you get?" Yohji finally broke down to ask his friend because he knew Ken wouldn't continue if someone didn't call him on it and Aya would never ask.

"How... do you two know each other? I mean, no offence or anything Aya but you seem much older than Yohji and you don't look like a gypsy and you couldn't exactly be a family friend, seeing as how Yohji doesn't really have any family and-" Ken stopped when he noticed the other two were staring at him blankly, "What?"

"Nothing." Yohji obviously did the speaking for Aya and himself, "It's a long story; I'll just have to tell you about it later." And with that said he ushered Ken into the car then crawled in after and waited for a minute as Aya got in, started the car and pulled away from the Library to begin what would be one of their greatest adventures ever.


	5. Understandably Lost and Unassuredly foun...

Title: **Reminiscence of Antiquity**

Chapter: 5 – Understandably Lost and Unassuredly found 

Rated: PG

Warnings: Eventual shounen-ai ( AxY & KxO)

Legal stuff: Well... I think it's obvious but I'll state it anyway. I down own them! Please don't sue me? I'm poor... seriously..._;

Thanks to: My editor, Shaeric Draconis, the Squall x Zell + Aya x Youji Yaoi fanfic group, the creators of Weiss Kreuz, **the Readers** and my fellow Gypsies everywhere. AYYA! Vive la Resistance!

****

Author and Editor notes: Production of these chapters has been really slow lately due to a little thing called Life. I'm sorry they are not coming quicker than what they have been coming in at but don't worry, I haven't given up on this story just yet. In fact, I plan to see it through for however long it takes. Please don't give up on this story, it's far from dead. Thank you ^_^!

**__**

Kaholione – I'm glad you are enjoying the story and thank you for your support but as stated above, I have no intention to let this story become a dead one. 

**__**

Chicho, Aisha_Max, Pink bunny 1& others - I made a tiny bit of fan service for all of you who have asked for it ^_^;; thanks again for sticking with me.

~*~

6:30 pm

The car moved along the road at a steady pace as the sun began to set in the distance. The colors which the setting sun displayed were a spectacular show that only nature could provide its inhabitants. It was such a marvelous sight through the car window that one could find themselves at peace with everything by simply watching it. Half closed emerald eyes observed the colors swirling together in the sky to highlight the beautiful which could never be found in inner city Tokyo. The blond let out a breath of air and relaxed into his seat with the thought that nothing could disturb the sense of peace he felt. Well... almost nothing.

"Ken, stop kicking the back of my chair."

"Sorry."

Shaking his head, Yohji turned to look at the ever-silent driver who kept his eyes on the road, his attention never wavering for a second. Aya had mentioned to them earlier that he had a friend who specialized in foreign languages at a college not far out of Tokyo. Apparently Aya's friend studied things like Latin which happened to be a dead language so the others deduced it was a good place to start. Well, actually, Yohji deduced it was a good place to start while Ken distracted himself with a pen he had fished out of his backpack. Ken had given up trying to have a conversation with either Yohji or Aya early on in the trip. The brunette had discovered quickly that Aya was anything but the talkative type and Yohji... well... Yohji seemed to get quiet around Aya. Perhaps this was out of respect for Aya's quiet nature or maybe it was out of habit, which caused Ken to wonder how much time these two actually spent together.

Lavender eyes made a quick glance in Ken's direction before turning over to Yohji who seemed to be enthralled with the setting sun. Yohji had never really brought up the tattoo on the back of his neck before so Aya was forced to presume that Ken had a lot to do with it. The redhead let his attention flicker back to the road for a bit as he set deeper into his thoughts about Yohji and his friend. The blond wasn't one to make new friends often so it was easy to understand how surprised Aya was when the teen had brought him the news that he had made a new friend. Ken, unlike the boy's gypsy friends, was loud, into sports, somewhat overly compassionate and not exactly the brightest crayon in the box. However, from what Yohji had told Aya, the brunette soccer fanatic had a good heart and was worthy of Yohji's friendship. Or at least he had better be worthy or-

"How long until we get there?" the soccer fanatic suddenly spoke up, causing Aya to glance at his watch. 

"In a couple of minutes." 

Ken groaned and swore he was going to kill himself if this had to go on any longer; the kid had problems dealing with all the silence which seemed to haunt Aya and infect Yohji. What felt like ages later when the car finally stopped, Ken ripped off his seat belt, hardly able to contain his ecstasy. Perhaps he was being a bit too dramatic when he leaped out of the car and practically hugged the ground, utterly grateful to stretch his legs and remove himself from the impending silence. However, since the other two didn't say anything about it Ken wasn't about to fret over what they thought about his display of over-the-top dramatics. So after the teen picked himself up off the ground, the three stole glances at each other then made their way to the building which loomed ahead of them, holding back something they desperately wanted to know. 

Old doors squeaked open and Yohji wrinkled his nose at the idea of being in some type of school after school hours by his own free will. Pushing his faint dislike for schools aside, he and the others pressed on down the hall until Aya came to a dead stop in front of one of the classroom doors. Ken nearly collided with Yohji who had stopped just as abruptly as Aya, but before either of them could comment on the near collision Aya opened the door and ushered them both in. For being a talented soccer player Ken sure did seem to be a klutz at times. This, of course, had come as a shock to Yohji when he first realized it, after all weren't soccer players supposed to be attentive and really good on their feet? Maybe it had to do with the fact that Ken spent a lot of his time day dreaming about being on the field scoring numerous goals that he forgot to check back in with reality before running into someone or tripping over something. That would explain why he was so graceful on the field and so graceless everywhere else.

"Yohji?"

Yohji blinked a few times and turned his attention to the three persons who were staring at him as if they were expecting something from him. Oh damn. How long had they been talking? The blond mentally kicked himself as a reminder to stop spacing off during important meetings and conversations. 

"I'm sorry..." the teen laughed nervously, "What did you say?"

"I said," Aya continued, "This is Professor Botan."

Yohji bowed, feeling faintly embarrassed before rising, "A pleasure to meet you, Botan-sensi" He said quickly, "I'm-"

"Kudou Yohji." The professor smiled, "Fujimiya-san already introduced you."

The young gypsy looked at Aya who was looking at the professor, "So I see." He nodded then turned his attention back to Botan.

"So what is this about a tattoo?" The Professor pressed on and Yohji realized it was probably because he had a rather busy schedule.

"Well it's-" the boy had started when a cell phone suddenly went off, causing all of them to jump at the sudden introduction of a loud irritating noise.

"Sorry." Aya spoke flatly as he picked up the phone and walked towards the door, "Fujjimiya speaking." Aya had opened the door and was about to leave when he suddenly stopped and his body went slightly ridged. The man glanced over his shoulder and looked directly at Yohji, "Yes, how may I help you?"

Yohji wrinkled his brow in confusion long before Aya stepped out and closed the door behind him. What the hell was THAT all about? Why had Aya looked at him like that? Was the phone call about him or was Aya just being peculiar? Not that Aya wasn't always peculiar but-

"You were saying?" The professor broke up Yohji's thoughts.

"What?" He blinked as a natural reaction before remembering what they were talking about just a minute ago, "Oh yes, the tattoo. It's on the back of my neck." And as those words were spoken he turned around and lifted up his hair to show the professor. He could hear the man shifting behind him to put on glasses so he could see the writing better. Yohji held his breath slightly as he patiently waited for the man to inspect the back of his neck then move away from him. Yohji didn't like people being close to him, emotionally or physically for that matter; not since he was twelve anyway. The boy had stopped trusting everyone but a select few people when he was twelve. What exactly had caused this distrust of people in his life? When he was twelve he was placed in a bad home...

"When did you get this?" The dark haired man questioned.

"I've always had it." Yohji spoke quickly, wanting nothing more than to back away from the professor who was still inspecting the back of his neck so carefully. Even though he knew the man was only concerned in the tattoo, he was still very unnerved by it all. 

"Interesting." The lower voice cracked the air once more before, much to Yohji's relief, the man backed away. 

"Can you read it?" Leave it to Ken to ask all the questions.

"Unfortunately, no..." the brunette's obvious disappointed was instant, "but, " Ken perked up a little, "I can tell you it looks like an ancient writing called Sanskrit.

"But you can't read it?" Ken was pressing and Yohji half wondered why. 

"No."

"Can't even try?"

Botan looked annoyed at this point, "Look, it's like this." The professor leaned back against his desk and removed the glasses, which had been so prominently perched upon his nose half hiding a long scar that ran along the side of his face. What an interesting man this guy must have been when he was younger. "The thing on the back of his neck is like... well... a truck. I can tell you it's a truck but I can't tell you it's a 1996 Toyota 4x4 with a V8 engine. It's just a truck to me, however, I -do- know someone who could tell you exactly what kind of truck this is."

Ken looked confused. Yohji could tell by the faint stress lines forming at the corners of his eyes as he tried to process the information the professor had just laid out before him. "Wait... so it says truck? I thought you couldn't read it..."

The professor blinked. Twice. "Are you in special classes son?"

Ken snorted with laughter, "No, honors classes are for geeks!" 

"So!" Yohji stepped in, "You know a guy who can help us?"

Botan was still looking at Ken as he spoke, "No, I don't think so." Eyes flashed over to Yohji, " However, I do know someone who might be able to translate the tattoo." Yohji was rubbing his forehead with two fingers as Botan continued, "He's an old friend of mine and he specializes in linguistics like the tattoo you have on the back of your neck."

"Great!" 

"Here." Botan handed Yohji a business card he had fished out of his wallet, ignoring Ken's little cheer, "This is his name and address. He lives in the West Hills not too far from here. I don't think you'll have any trouble finding it."

Yohji bowed graciously then rose again, "Thank you so much for all of your help, Professor Botan."

"Don't mention it." 

"And you..." Botan smiled at Ken, "Good luck with the truck."

"What?"

After collecting Ken the two made their way outside to the car where Aya was waiting for them with a rather strange but grave expression displayed upon his sharp features that were usually blank. Letting Ken go, Yohji faltered in his steps then slowed down to carefully examine exactly what Aya was portraying with his poorly hidden expression. Aya was an open book if read correctly by the right people and, for the most part, Yohji was one of those people. The man held a ridged stance, which said that the phone call couldn't have been good by any stretch of the imagination and the expression he was giving the youth, Yohji could tell that the call was about him. Dread flew through his mind like a bat out of hell and he found himself conjuring up horrible thoughts of what could possibly have gone wrong this time. Was he going to get kicked out of his new home? Would he have to move again into some other crappy place with people who couldn't take care of animals let alone children? Part of his fretting mind didn't even -want- to know what placed that look upon the redhead's face but the greater part of his mind told him it was better if he found out. 

"What's up?" Yohji swallowed hard.

"There's someone who wants to meet you." 

~*~

8 pm.

Yohji looked like the poster boy for apathy despite the knots his stomach had tied itself so viciously into. He was nervous but he was also determined. No expression caressed his attractive features as he entered the restaurant with Aya just a step behind him. He wasn't about to give anyone the satisfaction of knowing just how out of sorts he really was with this meeting Aya had brought him too.

"We're the Ikari-san party, I believe reservations were already made." Aya was speaking for him, thank the gods for that. Yohji's voice probably would have cracked even if it -was- just the hostess and not the person he was here to meet. To say the kid was nervous wouldn't have even tipped the iceberg of how shot to hell his nerves really were. To be honest, he thought he might have to run to the bathroom any second now to dispel the non-existent food he didn't consume earlier. As much as it disgusted him, dry heaving over a toilet sounded like a better idea than this meeting. Then again, so did jumping in front of a train.

"Oh!" The Hostess smiled sweetly with a nod, "Right this way, gentlemen." 

And they followed her to a secluded spot in the far back where an older man in a business suit sat quietly with his tea in hand. He didn't even look up until the two had stopped in front of the table. Another bout of nervous nausea shot down Yohji's spine as dark eyes looked up at them suddenly filled with shock and various other emotions. Yohji looked around for a bathroom sign.

"Hello Fujimiya-san..." Ikari rose to his feet and bowed to the both of them before rising quickly to steal a glance, or several glances for that matter, at Yohji, "Hello, son."

The blond's jaw tightened and so did his fists that he had previously balled his hands into, "Ikari-san." the green eyed boy spoke quickly then sat himself to the table without bothering to bow or utter another word in response. 

"Good evening, Ikari-san." Aya bowed politely while looking over at the teenager before taking a seat next to him. 

Yohji had always had fantasies about the evil things he would do when he finally met the bastard who had left his mother and him without a word. Staring down at the chopsticks that were set directly before him by their waitress, he felt himself smile evilly. How easy it would be to take one of those fine chop sticks and stab the man before him until he choked on his own blood and died. Justice served. Unfortunately, Yohji sighed to himself, Aya would be pissed if he did that and making Aya angry wasn't on his list of top ten things to do, especially because he saw what Aya did to people who he was angry with and it was -not- pretty. 

"So how have you been?" The "father" figure spoke, looking interested in what Yohji actually had to say. Right. 

"Fine..." The teen retorted shortly before lowering his voice, "No thanks to you." And it was then that there was a sudden stabbing pain in his leg which caused him to yelp with shock. It took a minute for him to realize what had actually happened and to his surprise he found that it was the redhead's fault. 

"Are you okay?"

Yohji sent a glare in Aya's direction, "Yeah fine, just a cramp." Aya wasn't even looking at him. In fact, the man sat there drinking his tea acting completely nonchalant as if he hadn't just kicked him. What the hell was that redhead up to? A more sour expression appeared on Yohji's face and he finally had to turn away from the other when he took notice to the fact that his "father" was speaking to him again. It was only two minutes into their conversation and he was already irritated with the fact that the man was still speaking. Maybe he had been spending too much time with Aya. Speaking of Aya, he distantly wondered if Aya felt this way when he used to talk the man's ear off all the time.

"Amir?" The blond jumped and blinked a few times realizing that he had zoned out... again. Damn. He -really- needed to stop doing that.

"What?"

"I asked you how you were doing in school?"

"Fine, but you wouldn't know that would yo-OW!" He cried again as another kick was delivered under the table from Aya, whom he was ready to kick back any second now. Was Aya trying to censor him or something? That was so utterly ridiculous! What right did Aya have to try and censor him from telling his father flat out how he felt about him? Damn it. Why didn't Aya ever make any sense?

"Come again?" 

"Fine. I'm doing fine." Yohji gritted through his teeth to the questioner.

"Oh." A short pause as the man obviously tried to come up with something to say. "Are you living with anyone right now?"

"I don't see why you ca~re" Once more he winced at a kick but was he was more bound and determined to get his say in this conversation whether Aya wanted it or not.

"You'd be surprised, Amir..."

"I doubt it. If you cared you wouldn't have left in the first place and gawd damn it Aya, would you STOP trying to play footsie with me right now?!"

"Son, look. I know you're mad at me..." Ikari looked rather pitiful in that moment as he leaned across the table to grip Yohji hands. All thoughts of Aya suddenly evaporated when he turned and glanced at his father. He was speechless. The man nearly had tears in his eyes but why? Where those tears of... remorse? Was he actually sorry or was this all some kind of act? God, why didn't -anything- make sense tonight? First Aya and now his.... father.

"... and I know your confused but this isn't how I wanted it to be." The man was still talking and Yohji had accidentally missed some of what he said... oops. "A long time ago, when you were very young, your mother and I... well..." He paused, perhaps looking for the right words, "We couldn't... exactly seem to agree on much and when we realized that these... disagreements... might have been affecting you negatively we decided that it would be best if I went away for a little while. You see, I work with a company over seas in America and so I traveled all the time, it wasn't hard to lose contact with you and your mother but, believe me Yohji, I had never meant to do it on purpose." Yohji stared at the man gripping his hands tighter.

His father had left under mutual agreement with his mother? It was partially his mother's idea? But then... why didn't he come back? Surely the man would have gotten news that his wife was dead or -someone- would have contacted him about it? Right?

"I had no forwarding addresses and I moved from place to place so often that it was too hard to track me down. On top of it all, since your mother and I were never -officially- married the police had no idea to contact me and inform me of her death..." And Yohji's world froze right there. His mother and father... were never married? No one had ever told him that but it suddenly all started to make sense.

"You must believe me when I tell you I had no idea she was dead..." Green eyes widened and for a moment the man simply stared at him. What was he looking at? Yohji leaned back in his seat a bit to put distance between this businessman and himself. Why did he have that strange expression? What was it he was seeing in him? Or was he even seeing -him- at all? Naturally the teenager's questions wouldn't be answered or at least not right away. 

A heavy silence followed and Ikari seemed to shift uncomfortably in it,"I... I came back, several times to look for you both, you know." What? All of his life Yohji had believe that his father had just one day decided to leave and abandoned them because he wanted nothing more to do with either of them. He had built all of these thoughts and images of his father on the idea that the man wanted nothing to do with either of them and here that very man was telling him how wrong he was. His father actually... wanted him? A stab of pain rocked through his body and he felt as if he was choking. Why...? He shouldn't be sad but yet he could feel tears collecting before his eyes and his vision blurred. No. He wasn't going to cry. He refused to show weakness in front of this man and in front of ...Aya.

"I searched for years but it's hard to keep track of nomads with no official records. It... was really by sheer coincidence I ran across an old friend while I was in town and we got to talking about the old days and I asked him if he had seen you or your mother. He -" Ikari laughed shortly as he looked away but didn't loosen his grip over his son's hands, " -he looked at me so oddly then told me what all my other friends were afraid to bring up." A bitter expression took over the elder's features to make him seem livid with the idea that no one had brought up the death of Yohji's mother. 

"Can you believe it? This whole time I thought you were both alive and well when I had no idea...." He seemed to waver in his speech as his eyes moved over the table in search of answers. "I was so angry that I hadn't known and no one had told me. They thought I knew and they were being sensitive to your mother's passing and the pain they thought it would bring up but Amir..." Ikari was looking at his son again, "How could I have known? I went to the police right away and began investigating what happened. It took me six months to track you down." Yohji shifted. Six months? Why so long? As if the Japanese man could read his mind, he cracked a smile and straightened, "It's not like we share the same last name or anything, you know." The boy hesitantly flashed him an unsure smile because he didn't know how else to respond. Ikari's smile grew, prompted by Yohji's "smile" though the business man lost his pleased expression in the instant he glanced over at Aya who was frowning darkly. Aya didn't seem pleased, in fact... he seemed quiet the opposite. Maybe because Aya was feeling as if the story was too straight forward, too... rehearsed?

"To make a long story short-" Ikari coughed a little, forcing his attention on Yohji, "Now that I have found you I - I want to make things better for you Amir... Yohji. I know these years have been hard on you so this is why I want to start over and give you a better life then you have been given. Please, I would like you to come and live with me... give me a chance to prove myself a worthy father and you won't ever have to live in pain again. Haven't you suffered enough... haven't I?" Were those real tears? Yohji pulled his hands from the other's and simply stared at him with a shocked but somewhat blank expression. He couldn't make heads or tails of this situation because it all was whirling around in his head at lightening speed. Was it all a fancy lie or was this man honestly sorry for what had happened and truely asking for forgiveness? He couldn't tell. He couldn't breathe. He had to get out and get out now.

"Excuse me." The blond got up quickly and rushed to the bathroom. 

8:20pm

Leaning against one of the resturant's bathroom counters he looked at himself in the mirror and noted the lack of color on his face. He was half in panic for it all seemed like it was just too much at once. His whole life he had wanted nothing more than to kill the man out there but now that he finally had the chance... he found out his whole reasoning for wanting to kill him was based on delusions he must have made up as a child. Fantasies he had told himself to make the pain of his mother's death less intense. A child had to put blame for everything on something and since his father was absent he put blame on him; the man couldn't defend himself and so he was the perfect scapegoat. It was all a lie. Everything he thought he knew about that man was a lie. He didn't need anyone else in his life to betray him when he had himself to do all the work for them...

A knock at the door echoed throughout the bathroom and Yohji jumped, half throwing himself against a wall as a tall red head entered the facility. 

"Yohji, Ikari-san was worried that he said something wrong to- " the man paused as he approached him, "What's wrong?" The statement was flat but he knew Aya was genuinely asking because he cared. Aya never asked questions that he didn't want answered or didn't care about. Aya was frank in everything he did and he probably always would be. The bluntness was a nice contrast to the rest of the world's bullshit.

"N-nothing." Yohji stammered and looked down so Aya couldn't see his eyes, a habit he had picked up as a child. Somewhere in his growing up with Aya he had figured that if Aya could look in his eyes then he would know for sure if Yohji was telling the truth or lying. He, to this day, still believed that.

"Liar." Yohji's head snapped up at the word and he suddenly realized how close the redhead was standing in front of him.

"I'm not-" came the inevitable protest but it was stopped short as Aya put the tips of his fingers to Yohji's lips in order to silence him, simultaneously causing Yohji's heart to skip a couple of beats. "Get yourself together or else he is going to think something is seriously wrong..." 

Yohji silently watched him, not daring to respond even after the hand removed itself and no longer stopped him from speaking. And so they stood there, looking at each other for a long moment in silence, standing hardly a breath's space apart while each tried their damnedest to figure the other out. Strangely enough, the only person Yohji was used to being in close spaces with was Aya so why was it now that he suddenly felt his heart racing and his stomach clenched with butterflies ? Had something changed between them that he was unaware of? 

The main door of the bathroom creaked open and the trance broke causing Aya to step aside and motion for Yohji to leave. The teen slowly nodded and wordlessly together they walked back to the table to resume a conversation, though Yohji's father had decided at that point that taking a lighter approach to everything might be a wise idea. So the three talked about computers and work and sports and seemingly other trivial things. Yohji had never been so glad to be having a superficial conversation with -anyone- let alone his father and much to his surprise it really did lighten the mood and relax him a little. Why? Because meaningless topics were safe. No hurt feelings... no memories.... no pain lay in meaningless topics.

"I hope to see you again soon, Am-Yohji." Ikari bowed to his son and rose then repeated the process with Aya, "Take care, Fujimiya-san." 

They both returned the bow before departing, heading for Aya's car in deathly still silence. Oh blissful silence. The world held so much noise but Aya never did. Then again, Aya never did a lot of things.

"What are you thinking about?"

You. "Love." 

"What?"

"I realize I don't love my father because I don't know him at all. Is that wrong? I mean, how does one go about loving a stranger?" Yohji was looking out the window so he missed the glance sent in his direction, "You know... I always thought my father was one thing but now... I guess he's another."

"Well you were young back then but, to me at least, he seemed like someone who wanted to get back with a son he had lost many years ago..."

"Aya..." enlarged jade colored eyes stared widely at the driver of the car who was doing his best to not look at them. 

"I think..." Aya cleared his throat and downshifted, "You've got a good chance for change with your father."

Slowly the car pulled up to the curb at the side of a hideous building partly in shambles just begging to be torn down. This is was hell and currently this was home.

"Not just change... life." A life without this hell hole. "Thank you, Aya." Yohji opened the car door and smiled gently as he looked at Aya and for once, Aya really looked back, "For everything..."

It always seemed to rain in Tokyo....

.... tonight was no exception. 

tbc


End file.
